07/23-25/2017

Kristin opened her eyes, squinting at the bright lights above her.

She looked around the white room that resembled a hospital and figured she was at her pack doctor.

But why?

She had been laying down on a bed, white sheets covering her.

Sitting up, she leaned her back against the head board, noticing that she wasn't alone in the room.

Ryder was sitting in a chair near her bed, dozing off.

She couldn't help but notice how tired he looked, especially for a wolf.

Her moving had woken him up, and his eyes immediately snapped to her.

"Kristin," Ryder's voice sounded relieved once he saw she was awake.

She was confused at his reaction.

Why was he here? And when was Ryder ever happy to see her?

Her tired eyes slowly moved to find him staring at her.

She fought the urge to make a snide remark about him staring, but she remained quiet.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, his eyes searching her own, "I'm sorry I brought you into this."

Kristin couldn't understand why he was apologizing to her, as she watched his forehead crease.

All she knew was that Ryder never apologized. For anything.

Yet here he was, apologizing for something she didn't understand.

What had happened?

She realized he was watching her closely, his eyes searching her face.

She reached out to snap her fingers in front of his face, "Hello?"

She laughed when she caught him by surprise.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

He was looking at her like she was crazy.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked, glancing down when she felt something in her arm.

"What the--" she started panicking, her hand moving to grab hold of the IV.

Ryder caught her hand, pulling it away from her arm.

"You can't touch that," he scolded her.

She chuckled, slipping her hand out of his hold and bringing it to his hair.

"I like your hair," she said, running her hand through it.

She didn't know why she was doing what she was doing, but she felt lighter somehow, almost care-free.

He gave her a weird look, before ducking away so she couldn't reach him.

"The doctor gave you something to calm you," he said, raising an eyebrow at her, "I didn't think it would be this strong though."

She thought over his words for a moment.

"Why?"

Ryder remained silent, watching her with a hint of a smile.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked, loudly.

"You don't remember?" he asked hesitantly, his expression turning serious again.

His behavior was confusing her, but she did realize she didn't know why she was here, at the pack doctor.

She couldn't remember anything leading up to this.

If she had been living with Ryder at the arrangement house, then why was she at her pack doctor?

"Am I okay?" she confusingly looked back to her arm, where the IV was pumping fluids into her.

"Yes, everything's okay now," he replied slowly.

"How long have I been sleeping?"

"Since around midnight."

"Well, what time is it now?

"Almost two o'clock in the afternoon."

Kristin gasped, "Why would you let me sleep for that long? Why am I here?" she asked, looking around.

She suddenly frowned at him, a weird feeling washing over her.

"Why did the doctor give me medicine?"

Ryder opened his mouth to reply but Kristin interrupted him.

"What happened?" she asked, turning serious.

"What--" she repeated, although her memory started working again.

She remembered driving, before getting kidnapped.

Then, seeing Rickard and being trapped in a cell.

Then...

Kristin suddenly tried getting up from the bed as memories flowed through her brain.

No, no, no, no.

"Kristin!" Ryder stopped her from jumping off the bed.

He grabbed her shoulders and lightly pushed her back so she was sitting against the headboard again.

However, her eyes were zoned out, and she was no longer seeing the hospital room.

She was back in the cell.

Rickard was on the other side, laughing evilly at her as he held Jess' dead body--

"Kristin!" Ryder said louder, sitting on the bed, facing her.

She finally snapped out of her horrible daze, inhaling sharply.

"It's okay, Kristin," Ryder repeated, running his hands up and down her arms.

"He killed her," she whispered, looking up at Ryder, with watery eyes.

He clenched his jaw, and shook his head.

"Kristin, don't. It's better not to remember."

Kristin really didn't want to remember, yet her mind was going into overdrive.

Blood was everywhere. It was covering everybody. Jess was gone.

Gabriel--

Kristin shook her head, focusing back on Ryder.

His eyes were growing darker before he got up, starting to pace the room.

"We're at my pack?" Kristin asked, trying to distract herself from more memories.

And judging by Ryder's angry pacing, she wanted to distract him.

He just nodded, continuing to walk around the room.

"Everything's okay now?" Kristin asked quietly, wanting to know if they were safe.

Ryder turned to look at her, before walking over to sit down on the bed again.

"Kristin, I promise that you're safe now."

She looked into his dark blue eyes, wanting to believe him.

She felt a tear roll down her cheek, and she closed her eyes.

A warm hand moved to the side of her face, Ryder's thumb wiping away the tear.

"They're gone," Kristin whispered, not being able to hide her memories.

Ryder remained quiet, so she opened her eyes to see his face.

It was masked from emotion, which she realized Ryder was good at doing.

He was trying his best to hide his feelings, as per usual.

However, Kristin saw through his facade, to his pain underneath.

"Ryder, I--" Kristin started, but she didn't know what to say.

This man in front of her had just lost his entire family in one day.

"Your family," she mumbled, trying to form coherent sentences.

He shook his head at her, stopping her from going on.

"Its okay Kristin," he brought his hand under her chin, "I still have you."

Ryder quickly took his hand away and got up, moving towards the door.

After remembering they were mates, she wondered why he hadn't said anything yet.

Unless--

"Where are you going?" she asked his retreating figure. She wasn't ready to be alone yet.

"I'll be back, I'm just getting your parents. They want to see you," he said without turning around.

The door clicked shut and the bright, white room was filled with silence.

Kristin brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.

She tried to focus on something in the room to distract her from slipping back into her memories.

She closed her eyes, seeing bars in front of her.

She opened them again, but she could still see the bars surrounding her.

Frantically looking around for the doctor's room, she tried staying calm. However, anxiety filled her, as she was no longer in the room she had just been in seconds ago.

•. •. •. •. •.

Capítulo Veinte!

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